Search Engine Behavior: How People Find Your Web site

Getting on page one is more important than ever. Make sure you target keywords that will get you on page one.

Many people will find your Web site by searching, using public search engines like Google and Yahoo! If you want people to find your content, how good do your search engine rankings have to be?

That question is answered in part by an iProspect Search Engine Behavior Study. The study is from April 2006, but its lessons are just as valid today.

What is the main lesson? Get on page one at all costs!

Why?
23% of Web searchers will click on the first few results on page one.
62% click on a result from the first page.
90% click on a result in the first three pages of search results.

So if you’re not on the first page, most people won’t find you. If you’re not on the first three pages, forget it! And over the past several years, those percentages are rising.

If your rankings are low, the only way to raise them is through discipline. There is no quick fix to win a page-one ranking.

Start by finding the keyword clusters that apply to your content that users are actually searching for. Try tools like Google Suggest to gauge the competition and WordTracker to see the keyword search frequency. The point is to find keywords to target that you’ll eventually be able to get on the first page for.

Once you pick good keywords, make sure your content is optimized for those key words and phrases. Use the relevant keywords in the content copy and in the metatags. Organize the content on pages according to Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. It will take time to show results, but keep at it.

2 Comments

Thanks for your reference in your article above to the latest research study that iProspect published. If any of your readers are interested in gaining free access to any other iProspect search engine marketing study (don’t even have to fill out a form) we invite them to do so.

The “gurus” that scare me are those that indicate they can get a Web site onto page one for a price of only $250/month.
I would much rather give away my services for free than have someone take advantage of one of those guys!